DER Documentary

Good Luck Soup

When we think of Asian America, Cleveland is not the first place that comes to mind. In Good Luck Soup, filmmaker Matthew Hashiguchi shows us why this often overlooked part of the country is as important as others in understanding the Asian American story. Through interviews, personal home movies and thoughtful narration by the filmmaker, Hashiguchi shows us what it was like to grow up mixed race in a predominantly white Midwestern neighborhood, where it wasn't always welcoming or accepting.

The journey for the Hashiguchi family begins with Matthew's grandmother, Eva, who moved to the Cleveland area following her family's internment during World War II. Though she and many other Japanese Americans were invited to the area, assimilating, working and living with the regions black and white population was an ongoing struggle.

These obstacles did not end with Eva and her generation. Eva's three children grew up in Cleveland's black and white neighborhoods in the 60s and 70s and also found it difficult to fit in. When Cleveland Public Schools launched a bussing program in the 60s, which sent students from inner city, black neighborhoods into white schools, Eva's daughter, Beverly, found herself in the middle of a confusing and tumultuous racial struggle between blacks and whites.

Even as the family assimilated into the community through interracial marriage, the confusion and struggle persisted. Eva's six grandchildren are half-white and half-Asian, and grew up in white, Catholic neighborhoods. And though each grandchild had one parent who matched the race, religion and culture of their community, they were still confronted with racism, bullying and bigotry as a result of their Asian heritage.

For filmmaker Matthew Hashiguchi, the inability to fit in created a struggle with his own racial and cultural identity, and in Good Luck Soup, Matthew takes us on a personal journey to uncover and understand his racial identity while growing up mixed race in white suburbia.